At the trailhead, noted a few small sloughs originating from very steep and rocky terrain on N to NE aspects on Mt. Owen and the headwall above Red Lake, primarily along ridgelines (11,000+), likely early during snow onset, running short distances. Debris was covered with an additional ~10cm/ 4 inches of new snow. Numerous test slopes on NW – N – E aspects, elevation ranging from 11200’ to 9800’ produced minimal results with only small soughs where the snow is disturbed.

Blowing Snow:

No

Cloud Cover:

25% of the sky covered by clouds

Air temperature:

Below Freezing

Wind Speed:

Light

Precipitation:

None

Air temperature trend:

Cooling

Wind Direction:

West

Accumulation rate:

None

More detailed information about the weather:

A surprisingly uniform 10 to 20 cm / 4 to 8 inches of low-density (~5%*) new snow throughout most of the basin. Snow appears to have fallen primarily post-frontal passage with minimal wind effect or slab tendencies from treeline and below. Wind ranged from calm to light westerly. No current blowing snow and little evidence of recent transported snow, snow surface was mostly uniform (+). Some previous crossloading noted on N thru NE aspects in the Alpine from light westerly winds.